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These are what we call the 'YMMV items.' Things that some people find in this work. We call them 'your mileage might vary' because not everyone sees these things in the same way. This starts discussions in the trope lists, a thing we don't want. Please use the discussion page if you'd like to discuss any of these items.

Badass Decay: Sting is often accused of being this by his haters and even some of his fans. While his days as a top superstar are unquestionably over (mainly because he has nothing left to prove rather than being washed up), Sting, 55 as of 2014, is still a damn good wrestler.

Big Lipped Alligator Moment: Thought that big voiceover at the top of the main page was pretty cool? Well, this being WCW, they had to mess it up somehow. The main event of Clash of the Champions XXXV was Scott Hall and Randy Savagenote Subbing for Kevin Nash. The NWO imposed what they called "Wolfpac Rules," meaning that some other NWO member could sub for Hall or Nash in tag team title defenses. defending the WCW World Tag Team Titles against Lex Luger and Diamond Dallas Page. After the match, which Hall and Savage of course won, the NWO came in to celebrate before the camera saw Sting in the balcony with a vulture. The voiceover played, and the lights went off. When they came back on againnote ECW had done the lights out/lights back on again trick a few times already, the vulture was on the top rope. The show ended with the vulture walking along the top rope and the NWO having to sell being "afraid" of it. WCW never mentioned the vulture again.

Broken Base: Is Sting still a good wrestler despite his age, or is he a washed-up has-been who won't retire?

A minor one between Sting fans: which Sting is better: Surfer or Crow? (Almost everyone dislikes Wolfpac and Joker Sting) The casual fans prefer Crow Sting because he had a better look and character, but most smarks prefer Surfer Sting because he put on better matches.

Let's not forget the Sharpshooter vs. Scorpion Deathlock debate. They're the exact same hold with the only major difference being that Sting does it right handed while Bret does it left handed.

Designated Villain: Had two brief heel runs in TNA which turned out to be exactly this. The late 2008 turn to join the Main Event Mafia was a matter of spreading his message of respect, which he knew they would initially embrace before eventually turning against him. The early 2010 turn happened because he knew Hogan was Evil All Along but also that nobody would ever listen long enough to see it.

Dork Age: His time in the NWO Wolfpac in mid-1998. Lobster makeup, stupid NWO catchphrases, just took away from his mystique and was a total negation of everything he had worked so hard to build over the previous two years.

TNA Joker Sting, for some.

Fridge Brilliance: His final appearances (and indeed, much of his career) in TNA were spent fighting a power grab by a corrupt regime consisting of the company's legit ownership going mad, and failing due to the numbers game. His first appearance ever in a WWE was spent the exact same way, with the numbers largely neutralized beforehand, and it was a smashing success.

Growing the Beard: The familiar all-white look that is most closely associated with Sting was first sported by him on the October 21, 1996, episode of WCW Monday Nitro; in the beginning, the paint actually evoked The Ultimate Warrior (there's actually an explanation for this: both Sting and Ultimate Warrior were buddies when they began in the business and they soon learned that painting their faces was cheaper than getting masks. The designs, supposedly, where usually improvised on the spot), as it appeared to be two wing-shaped white splotches covering each half of his face. This look soon transitioned to a uniform whiteness with black eyes and black lips, and gradually became scarier as the black streaks emanating from Sting's eyes multiplied, grew thicker and longer and more thorn-like, until they were almost more prominent than the whiteface itself. After going to TNA in 2006, Sting would occassionally add red streaks to the black and white. In 2011, Sting's makeup became a less monochromatic hodgepodge of black and red interlocking streaks on a white canvas, thus brilliantly evoking both the colorful pre-1996 look and the demonic "Wolfpac" makeup. Now, however, it's taken on a "Joker" appearance that (along with his radical new behavior) is quite controversial among fans.

He literally grew a goatee in mid 1998 and shaved it off before returning in 1999. Then he grew a soul patch in 2000 but shaved it and regrew it several times before sticking with it permanently from 2006 onwards.

Hilarious in Hindsight: Steve Borden actually holds the trademark on the name "Sting" for a performer. That means that Sting the musician has to pay Sting the wrestler in order to use the name he's best known as (apparently, it's a token sum).

"I agree! I agree!"note The TNA Victory Road 2011 main event against Jeff Hardy was cut short due to the fact that Hardy was stoned out of his mind as he came down to the ring. Angered at Hardy's lack of professionalism, Sting forcibly pinned Hardy and wouldn't let him back up, to prevent either of them from getting hurt. The result was a title match that lasted about thirty seconds. When a fan screamed "This is bullshit!" at Sting, this was Sting's response.

And in WCW, he actually DID use a live performance of "Seek and Destroy" as his theme from late 1999 until it's end in 2001; this is overdubbed on WWE DVDs with his original Crow theme.

That would be a case of "what goes around, comes around", since his theme in the late 80's/early 90's as Malibu!Sting (titled "Turbo-Charged") was an NWA Version of "Seek and Destroy" (right around the same time his old partner "Ultimate Warrior" Jim Helwig used Jimmy Hart's version of the song, titled "Unstable" on WWE Anthology, as his theme in the WWF, in fact).

They Changed It, Now It Sucks: A lot of people are pissed that WWE didn't let Sting use his WCW Crow themenote They own the rights to all of WCW's assets. despite it being used in WWE 2K15 and during his appearance at SDCC in 2014. At Survivor Series, he came out to a generic rock song by CFO$, which appears to be a Suspiciously Similar Substitute for "Slay Me".

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